DICE is a Discrete Integrated Circuit Emulator. It emulates computer systems that lack any type of CPU, consisting only of discrete logic components.
dice-libretro is a Libretro port of DICE, to run in RetroArch.
Upstream, standalone DICE has some nice screenshots:
Some games use zipped ROMs and launch similarly to MAME or FBNeo --- filename is important, see table below.
Please do not attempt to contact the DICE team to request ROM files.
Some games (pong, breakout, pinpong, etc) do not have any ROM on the board at all. For these, copy the dummy launcher file from dummy_files to your ROM folder; these have a correct name (for example, pong.dmy) that will get RetroArch to set up lr-dice for the correct game.
(If you use a ROM manager like RomVault or clrmamepro, it may suggest wrapping pong.dmy in pong.zip --- that works fine as well.)
| Name | Base filename | Publisher | Year | Needs ROM? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-Aircraft | antiaircraft | Atari | 1975 | x |
| Attack | attack | Exidy | 1977 | x |
| Breakout | breakout | Atari | 1976 | |
| Clean Sweep | cleansweep | Ramtek | 1974 | x |
| Crash 'N Score | crashnscore | Atari | 1975 | x |
| Crossfire | crossfire | Atari | 1975 | |
| Gotcha | gotcha | Atari | 1973 | |
| Hi-Way | hiway | Atari | 1975 | |
| Indy 4 | indy4 | Atari | 1976 | x |
| Jet Fighter | jetfighter | Atari | 1975 | x |
| Pin Pong | pinpong | Atari | 1974 | |
| Pong | pong | Atari | 1972 | |
| Pong Doubles | pongdoubles | Atari | 1973 | |
| Quadrapong | quadrapong | Atari | 1974 | |
| Rebound | rebound | Atari | 1974 | |
| Shark Jaws | sharkjaws | Atari | 1975 | x |
| Space Race | spacerace | Atari | 1973 | |
| Steeplechase | steeplechase | Atari | 1975 | x |
| Stunt Cycle | stuntcycle | Atari | 1976 | x |
| TV Basketball | tvbasketball | Midway | 1974 | |
| Wipe Out | wipeout | Ramtek | 1974 | x |
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Easy: One mouse can be used for Paddle 1. Use "Core Options -> Use mouse pointer for paddle 1". You'll still want a keyboard or gamepad handy to have enough buttons.
(Mouse buttons can be configured using the usual RetroArch binding and remapping, https://docs.libretro.com/guides/input-and-controls/ ).
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Somewhat advanced: Multiple mice are supported using certain libretro drivers on Linux and Windows, see retromouse.md.
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More advanced: Multiple mice are a compile-time option on Linux, Windows, and Mac, see manymouse.md.
Settable in "Core Options," see dipswitches.md.
Prebuilt binaries for several platforms are available through RetroArch's "Online Updater -> Core Downloader". You may need to do "Online Updater -> Update Core Info Files" first.
For other platforms, use:
- https://docs.libretro.com/development/retroarch/compilation/linux-and-bsd/#building-libretro-cores or similar.
For upstream standalone DICE (inactive):
- Project Page: http://sourceforge.net/projects/dice/
- Email: [email protected]
For a fork of standalone DICE running on modern Linux systems:
Many thanks to Adam B for his work on DICE: https://adamulation.blogspot.com/
Copyright (C) 2008-2025 DICE Team
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.